Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 01:00am 04 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
I need to have a look at cell 29. This cell is what's triggering the high temperature cut out on the chargers.
See no charge at 93%
It is ok when I switch off 3 chargers.
Possibly just a higher resistance in the connection.Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 06:19am 04 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Charge data from Exploren. It is quite different to Chargefox. Interesting to see the charge graph on the bottom. You can see when the temperature starting cutting out the chargers and where I turned off 3 chargers.
Claimed... 100% green power Don't ask me how they know its green. It is more expensive than other outlets. And I don't know why green power should be more expensive.
Edited 2025-03-04 16:23 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
greybeard Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 169
Posted: 11:38pm 04 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Obvious, they used green ink for the graph
phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2407
Posted: 11:59pm 04 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
As the grid mixes it all up I assumes they have an arrangement with solar / wind energy providers to ensure an equal amount of energy is supplied to the grid as that used by their outlets.
I guess the extra cost may be due having to buy from solar / wind at times when coal power is cheaper. They may also be adding an extra margin if they think most customers won't check the real price.
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 01:36am 05 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Spent some time with my brother. He hurried through his work and came home at lunch time. So we had all arvo together.
Day 5
Left Cooranbong at 5.50am Arrived to the outskirts of Sydney around 7.20am. Managed to avoid the tunnel but still got the wrong road. Too many other vehicles too.
After going round in circles, being in the wrong lane, turning in the wrong places, locked in traffic jams and crawling when we did move, I eventually found the shopping centre but skinny took me into a loading lane and pointing to the grassed park area for where the charger outlets were. No vehicle access and no charger outlets.
I parked there in the loading lane anyway, no park anywhere on the street. No joke, on the street they were parked literally bumper to bumper. The only way out would be to start with the car on the end, then the next car and so on.
I went walking. I found a carpark. Walked through but did not find any charge outlets.
I walked back to the car and around the corner but still no charge outlets
I went back to the car thinking I had to go find another place. I drove around the block and found another carpark. I drove in and around. Found an Exploren outlet. The website said Chargefox was there. Anyhow I plugged in but it faulted.
I looked at the website again and it was clear there should be Charfox outlets. Next level down and the level below that I found Chargefox. All parks were taken up but on the bottom level, one of the cars was a P plater, ICE in the EV charging park. So I parked in front and connected up.
Can you see the exhaust pipe?
The website said 22kW, but it could only give me 7kW. 40A to the battery.
I give it 1 hr 17 min and only got 8.6kW.
Distance travelled to this point was 110km
Then there was the hassle to get out of the carpark. The sign said free for the first 2 hrs. I got a ticket that was free. But at the boom gate they wanted $30. I rang for assistance and they let me out for free.
Found a bush patch to update this travel blog. Soon I will go and set up camp at the caravan park.
Edited 2025-03-05 11:47 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 10:04am 07 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Day 6 away from home. Set up show.
Day 7. Day 1 of show. AEVA space. Quite a number of vehicles, converted and commercial.
My outboard motors and 2005 Hilux.
And my electric push bike.
Not long into the day, the event manager came and took my bike away. Claimed he would have to shut the show down if he didn't take it away. He said the battery might catch fire. Go figure. Every vehicle in the show has a battery. He also tried the excuse that it was not on the list for insurance. I questioned him a bit more this afternoon about why. He said because it is a home built bike and the battery might catch fire. So battery fire was their real issue.
I thought that cameras were not acceptable as mirrors, but this vehicle has cameras. And the door was open with camera pointing at the 2005 Hilux.
At the other end of AEVA space, there was an EV DJ. Lights and music from the EV power.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 09:58am 08 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Very big show. Loads of cars (most are too big in my opinion), trucks, bikes and scooters. A bus. A tiny home. Loads of EV charging equipment, even a solar carport EV charging set up. Some boats, a hydrofoil boat, hydro foiling boards, electric blow up paddle board and under water scooters. A flying car. Front end loader and excavator. Solar cars. Mini F1 race car.
Here is a couple of pictures.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 09:28pm 09 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Day 9. Last day (3rd day) of show. The show finished at 5pm. I packed up and then waited for our turn to leave.
Left at 6.15pm and drove to Cooranbong to my brother's place.
Day 10 Left Cooranbong at 6.10am Drove 189km mostly at 80km/hr since the last charge using 58% or 348Ah. The last charge was at the caravan park before the show. Charging at Coles Huntley. Free charge. No charge data. Arrived at 7.06am.
Edited 2025-03-10 07:33 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 03:23am 10 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Left Coles Huntley, Branxton at 10.40am. Drove 167km mostly at 80km/hr. Arrived at Quirindi at 1.19pm. Used 54% or 325Ah
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 01:05am 11 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Charge data for Quirindi.
Left Quirindi at 4.42pm. Drove to Narrabri, mostly at 80km/hr. Went to Adelong motel. The plugshare website said open 24/7. The fellow in the office didn't want to ask his guest to shift his ICE vehicle so I could have access. He pointed me to the Tesla charge station.
I went to the Tesla charge station. It might have worked if I had the Tesla app and account. I figured I had enough power to make it through to Moree, so didn't set up an account.
Drove to Mum & Dad's place, Moree. Drove mostly at 80km/hr.
The last 20km I drove at 60km/hr. That one cell that goes high on charge and also gets hot, switching off the chargers, went low as the pack was getting low. Somewhere just south of Moree I stopped and took a photo.
Arrived at 8.54pm. Used 76%, or 459Ah. Total of 273km from Quirindi to Dad's place.
The next morning (day 11), the low cell appears to have recovered.
Drive to the Showground, that cell appears to function normally. Added another 6km to the Showground. Forgot to photo the battery screen. It didn't look much different to the screen when leaving Dad's place.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 10:47pm 11 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Day 12.
Left Dad's place sun up, 7am NSW time. Queensland time, that's 6am.
Crossed the NSW/QLD border, arriving into Goondiwindi at 7.42am Qld time. Drove 127km, mostly at 80km/hr. Used 42% or 252Ah.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 11:24pm 11 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
I was just looking back at what I wrote crossing the Qld/NSW border on the way down. I wrote 'I left IKEA at 1.45pm.' This makes 6hrs to drive 156km. Plus the hr gained across the border by the clock change, 7hrs, making it 8.46pm as the time I wrote. Somehow stuffed up. This is not correct. This BMW came in to charge beside me.
The details when this photo was taken is 4.53pm Qld time and I was still charging, so definitely didn't leave at 1.45pm
You can't leave before arriving either. A previous post I wrote, 'arrived at IKEA at 2.40pm.
Hopefully I haven't stuffed up that bad on the rest of the trip, but there could be some discrepancies. Edited 2025-03-12 09:31 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
greybeard Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 169
Posted: 11:37pm 11 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
So, does this mean you're setting the scene where you hope the BMW driver doesn't note the swap with a hilux ute and just puts it down to being a discrepancy?
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 05:01am 12 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Ha ha greybeard. Good one. Nah, I wouldn't want the BMW.
Chargefox data for Goondiwindi.
Left Goondiwindi at 10.10am.
Along the way, hundreds of prickly pear is loaded with fruit. I stopped and ate some. A soft sweet red jelly like centre with loads of hard seeds.
Drove 224km mostly at 80km/hr. Used 74% or 443Ah. Arrived in Dalby at 1.30pm
Edited 2025-03-12 15:03 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 09:01pm 12 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Chargefox data for Dalby.
Left Dalby 4.57pm. Drove 105km , mostly at 80km/hr, to Kingaroy. Arrived at 6.28pm.
The BMS failed, so I couldn't charge.
Tried everything I could but the BMS was not going to work.
I camped the night in beautiful place under some trees. This morning it was working again. Forgot to photo the screen, but charging as the sun is coming up.
This is the screen after charging already 35 minutes. (It was breakfast time, after I got it on charge)
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 10:28pm 12 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Thousands of white cockatoo's. This picture is only a very small portion of what was in the sky.
Sun on the solar panels.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 04:11am 13 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Chargefox data for Kingaroy.
Left Kingaroy at 9.15am. The original plan was to go to Childers, but instead I cut through the mountains to Gin Gin. It was an extra 18km to go to Gin Gin instead of Childers for this section, but probably cut about 50km from the overall trip.
I forgot to zero the trip meter at Kingaroy, so 319km - 105km = 214km since the last recorded distance. Used 64% or 385Ah. Arrived in Gin Gin 12.41pm. Some road works in this section, had to stop and wait.
Edited 2025-03-13 14:21 by TrevTrev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 11:25am 13 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Chargefox data for Gin Gin.
Left Gin Gin at 4.36pm.
Drove mostly at 80km/hr, but some at 60km/hr when there was no other vehicles on the road. Don't know how much, it was a bit here and there. Practiced maximising range, like coasting down hill, at whatever speed the hill could provide ((without getting in the way of other vehicles). On the big hills, using regen braking to hold it from going over the speed limit. It uses a lot of power going up those hills.
Arrived at Rockhampton at 8.10pm. Did 257km. Used 77% or 464Ah.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 11:47pm 13 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Chargefox data for Rockhampton. At one point it kicked me off, so had to reconnect.
Charging seemed a lot longer than usual. The high temperature kept switching off the chargers and so I reduced the charge rate to keep temperature below 48C. I had to wait until full as well, because Marlborough charge station is still not working. I knew I had to make the distance to Camilla.
In the last section, practising maximising range, there are 2 other charge stations, Miriam Vale and Mt Larcom. If I didn't make my range target, I could stop at one of them.
Anyhow, I left Rockhampton at 1.30am. Rocky is not a safe place to camp. Drove out of town to camp.
Day 14 Left camp spot at 6.16am Arrived at Carmilla 8.49am. Drove mostly at 80km/hr. Distance from Rockhampton to Carmilla 227km. Used 68% or 407Ah
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
Posted: 02:12am 14 Mar 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Print this post
Port B faulted and kicked me off. It would not reset. So now I am charging from port A.
Trev @ drivebynature.com
Page 2 of 3
Print this page
The Back Shed's forum code is written, and hosted, in Australia.
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
Print this post
